Midland woman bowls rare perfect game

By Rob Surbrook sports@mdn.net

Published 3:00 am, Sunday, April 17, 2011

Midland's Marisa Toschkoff joined some very elite company on April 1 when she bowled a 300 game at Valley Lanes.

According to Northern Lanes co-owner Bo Goergen, about 150 men have bowled 300 games in Midland over the past five years, compared to the four women, including Toschkoff, who have done it in the same span of time.

"I think it was a good thing overall," said Toschkoff, 41, who was bowling in the only all-woman team in a men's league when she bowled the 300 game. "I definitely think it gained me some respect in the bowling community."

Goergen, who has won two national championships, said a number of factors contribute to the great disparity between the number of 300 games bowled by men and by women.

He said there's a long-standing idea that women don't have the necessary upper-body strength to bridge the gender gap in the sport. But he also said the playing field has been leveled more in recent years.

"If there is still a difference, yeah, it's probably in the strength," he said. "That's my opinion, but there's also truth to it. Athletically and strength-wise, there is definitely a difference. ... But honestly, with the advances we've gotten in technology, equipment, and the way the lanes are treated, women are performing on a near equal level to men professionally."

The weight of the bowling balls also makes a difference.

Bowling pins weigh three pounds, six ounces each, meaning there are over 30 pounds worth of pins to dislodge in every frame. Professional and semi-professional male bowlers generally use 15-pound balls, while women generally use 12- to 14-pound balls. According to Goergen, that alone makes a difference in one's ability to bowl a perfect game.

Goergen, who bowls all across the country, has seen plenty of 300 games in his life, but acknowledges the rarity of it happening for women.

"They're definitely few and far between locally," Goergen said. "And they're even more rare in the professional game. For one, there are hardly any women competing with men at the PBA level, and two, bowling in the PBA is a lot more difficult than a typical match. In fact, I've never personally seen a woman bowl a 300 in a PBA match."

In the PBA events, there is a substantial difference in the lanes. The ratio of oiled boards to dry boards in the lanes is different, and according to Goergen, professional lanes have a "flatter pattern."

"It requires much more accuracy," Goergen said of the professional game. "The way the lanes are set up and treated, there is a lot more room for error, to miss right or left."

Goergen acknowledges that another hurdle women bowlers need to overcome is their numbers.

"It's definitely something we have been paying attention to," Goergen said about the lack of women who commit to the sport when compared to men. "We want to overcome it so we can market our sport better."

Toschkoff agrees with the psychological aspect creating a gender difference in the sport.

"A lot of women go bowl to have fun," Toschkoff said. "And they bowl a lot, but not that many women really put the time and effort into their game to take it to the next level."

Toschkoff, whose previous high score was a 279, said that even though she has been getting steadily closer to the elusive perfect game for the past five years or so, it was still a huge surprise for her when she finally got it.

"I've never gotten the 10th strike in a row before," Toschkoff said. "It was the second game of the series, and I just felt good. I didn't even get nervous until I was about to throw the 12th ball. That's when it hit me. And when I got the strike, it was kind of like I was in a bubble. I didn't really know what was going on around me. I could hear people cheering, but I didn't know how many."

Toschkoff said she didn't even realize during her game that people were gathering around to watch her finish her game up.

"It was unusual," Toschkoff said. "People were so generous in giving me their congratulations and shaking my hand afterwards. I was just surprised."

Toschkoff, who has been bowling for 30 years, said that she knows plenty of men who have bowled 300s but very few women.